After the thunder storms of Saturday night it was a relief to wake up to much brighter weather on Sunday morning. Ten members of the group arrived with eager anticipation of migrants with nightingale and turtle dove high on the list. The site of Conyer is an old brick works and I was […]

Thirteen stalwart (and well wrapped up) members of the Group met at Leysdown on Saturday morning for our first group outing of 2018. With a biting north wind, we needed those layers. The tide was out when we arrived. We were greeted by a pied wagtail on the seawall, and several black-headed […]

On Sunday 16 July the group visited Elmley NNR reserve. It was a warm, dry if humid day where a hat and sunscreen were the order of the day, together with provisions and drink as it is a mile long walk from the car park to the first of the hides around the scrape. With […]

Stodmarsh in May – my favourite reserve at the best time of year – what could be better? A merry band of seven met up and, despite the chilly weather, Stodmarsh once again delivered some great birds, although in some cases with tantalisingly brief views. We started off in the wooded section and proceeded around the […]

Watching the weather forecasts this week I did not expect to be leading the Elmley trip on a lovely sunny morning. On the track to the main reserve we saw marsh harrier, curlew, skylark, and lapwing. On the sacrificial crop near the farm goldfinch and linnet fed, and a robin ‘ticked’ as it joined them. […]

Several suggestions were made for the title of this trip report, including ‘Feeding Frenzy’ – but I don’t think you want to read about our picnic lunches! Perhaps more appropriate is a round-up of a wonderful day out at Oare, enjoying a wide variety of wildlife and attended by over 20 members of the group. […]

It is never easy to leave a comfortable bed at 4 o’clock in the morning to go on a dawn chorus walk, but myself and nine others stealed ourselves and were rewarded with a memorable start to the day. This year’s dawn chorus took place 3 weeks later in the season than that from last […]

Ian, one of our Group members, recently saw a marsh harrier at Elmley with wing tags. Many bird species are ringed, and with marsh harriers there has been an ongoing project on the Isle of Sheppey to place coloured and numbered tags on individuals in the nest so that their progress can be tracked. […]